Lowe's Fernandez Racing adds to its arsenal this week with the addition of Michel Jourdain Jr. alongside team regulars Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz aboard the No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX. The trio is preparing for a cornerstone event of the American Le Mans Series -- the Petit Le Mans endurance classic. Thirty-eight entries and an infusion of open-wheel talent will vie for bragging rights in the challenging 1,000 mile/10-hour race at Road Atlanta.

Fernandez and Diaz have displayed their adeptness in endurance racing, crossing the finish line second in two starts at the Twelve Hours of Sebring. (The 2008 result was disqualified in the post-race technical inspection.) Through no fault of their own, the pair did not fare well in their Petit Le Mans debut last year. An on-track incident two hours into the race resulted in a blocked track, leaving Diaz nowhere to go. Significant damage to the rear of the car occurred when Diaz was subsequently hit from behind. The team was able to make the necessary repairs to return to the track, but the initial heavy damage caused the team to retire with a little more than six hours remaining in the race.

Jourdain, 32, will be preparing for his team and ALMS debut this weekend following an earlier announcement that the Mexican talent was signed as a third driver at Lowe's Fernandez Racing for Petit and the two 2009 endurance events. Like Fernandez, Jourdain made his mark in the open-wheel ranks in a nine-year Champ Car career that included 152 starts, two wins, nine podiums and a third-place finish in the 2003 championship. He made his sports car racing debut in 2006, running three races with Doran Racing in the Grand-Am series.

Petit Le Mans will receive extensive coverage from SPEED with online streaming of Friday's qualifying at SPEEDtv.com beginning at 3:25 p.m. EDT and 6 1/2 hours of race coverage on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. EDT.

RACE NOTES

Circuit: 2.54-mile, 12-turn permanent road course.

Saturday's race will last 1,000 miles or 10 hours with a 11:15 a.m. EDT start.

A driver may not drive more than seven hours total in the race and not more than four hours in any six-hour period.

OF NOTE

Michel Jourdain Jr. will be making his debut with Lowe's Fernandez Racing and the ALMS this weekend.

Jourdain participated in three test sessions with the team before this weekend, most recently at Road Atlanta last weekend. Earlier tests were at Mid-Ohio and Road America.

This will be the second career ALMS starts at Road Atlanta for Fernandez and Diaz and the first for Jourdain.

Diaz has made one prior start at Road Atlanta in Indy Lights competition (2001).

Last year Fernandez and Diaz qualified sixth in class and eighth overall but retired with a little more than six hours remaining in the race following an earlier on-track incident.

Fernandez and Diaz finished second overall in the last endurance race -- the Twelve Hours of Sebring -- but were disqualified in the post-race technical inspection after failing an engine stall test.

Fernandez and Diaz are seventh in the championship standings and could advance into fifth place (16 points out) and third place (32 points out) with the help of additional points awarded at Petit (30 points for a win) and Laguna Seca (25 points for a win).

Lowe's Fernandez Racing is fifth in the team championship rankings, 30 points shy of third place.

Since entering the ALMS last year, Lowe's Fernandez Racing has claimed five podiums and 10 top-five results. Two second-place finishes (Sebring 2007 and Mosport 2008) are its best results to date.

QUOTABLE

Adrian Fernandez, No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "This is becoming a favorite race track for the drivers, and the race itself brings a lot of good competition from around the world -- not just the American Le Mans Series -- and also a lot of good drivers and former champions like Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, just to mention a few. The level of competition is really, really high. Obviously, you have the different classes to compete with, which makes it very interesting and makes the competition quite tough because of the speed differences. This track is particularly challenging because it is very fast. It is a tough, physical race track for everyone. This race is a good way for a lot of drivers that are not racing or their series are over to come and keep up their miles. And it is becoming more and more popular with the fans. Every year it is getting better and better. This track has great spectator viewing areas where you can see a lot of the race track. Our test this past weekend went well. We gave Michel a lot of miles and he is doing very well."

Luis Diaz, No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "I am very confident going into the race. We were almost three seconds quicker than with the Lola last year right away in testing this weekend, and the car handled very well. The team has shown that we are competitive in the long races like Sebring. Last year, we had bad luck here, but I felt we would have finished well if we didn't have those problems. Michel brings his experience, which makes us a stronger team. I feel very, very confident that we will have a good result."

Michel Jourdain Jr., No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "This weekend for me is many things. I am very, very excited to race in the ALMS. The Petit Le Mans, in a short time, has become a classic race, and to do it with Adrian and Luis is so great. We have been friends for so many years, and to have this opportunity is fantastic. I really enjoy endurance racing, and when it is with good friends, it is even better. The race track is very difficult. It has so many blind spots and it is tough to learn, but I think I am getting better at it. Adapting to the car is not easy, but, again, I think I am getting better at it. It is a very fast car in the fast corners -- so, so quick. In talking to Scott Dixon, it's amazing because it is so much faster than an Indy car or anything that we have driven before in the fast corners. Hopefully we can give Lowe's and Acura a win. Adrian and Luis have been so close many times this year. I wish it had happened before so there wasn't so much pressure, but I would love to be part of the first win of the season."

ABOUT THE DRIVERS

Adrian Fernandez ... second season of ALMS competition after claiming three podiums and six top-five finishes in 2007 debut ... is a veteran of 12 years at the top levels of open-wheel competition, winning in both Champ Car (CART) and IndyCar Series (IRL) competition ... debuted in sports car competition in 2006, winning the Mid-Ohio Rolex Sports Car Series race and claiming four additional top-five finishes ... began competing in select NASCAR Busch Series events in 2005, driving for Team Lowe's Racing and Hendrick Motorsports ... finished fifth in the IndyCar Series championship in his inaugural season in 2004 with three wins ... missed the 2000 Champ Car championship crown by only 10 points, finishing second in the series to Gil de Ferran ... has garnered numerous awards over the years, including "Athlete of the Year in Mexico" ... named one of Mexico's 300 most influential people by a national magazine in 2006 ... 44 years old from Mexico City ... resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., with wife Catalina, daughter Valentina and son Niko.

Luis Diaz ... second season of ALMS competition after claiming three podiums and six top-five finishes in 2007 debut ... entered sports car competition in 2004 netting eight wins in the Grand-Am series over three years as well as Rolex Sports Car Series Team Championship honors in 2006 and a second-place result in the driver championship co-driving with Scott Pruett ... was named "Driver of the Year" in Mexico in 2006 ... won the Mexico Formula 3 championship in 1998 ... earned Rookie of the Year honors in the Indy Lights Pan-American Championship, Mexico Formula 3 Championship and Formula Reynard Series Mexico ... U.S. open-wheel success includes a fourth-place finish in the 2002 Atlantic championship ... began racing go-karts at the age of 12, winning several national championships ... 30 years old from Mexico City ... resides in Toluca, Mexico, with wife Carolina ... nickname is "Chapulín" (Cha-poo-leen), which means grasshopper.

Michel Jourdain Jr. ... will be making his first appearance for the team and ALMS debut at Petit Le Mans as a third driver ... will also drive for the team in the 2009 events at Sebring and Road Atlanta ... veteran of a nine-year open-wheel career in Champ Car with 152 starts, two wins, nine podiums and a career-best third-place ranking in the 2003 championship ... became the youngest driver to compete in a Champ Car race in 1996 when he made his U.S. racing debut at Long Beach at age 19 ... entered NASCAR competition in 2005, making 26 Nationwide Series and seven Craftsman Truck Series starts over the last three years ... made his sports car racing debut in 2006 contesting three Grand-Am races with a best finish of seventh at Daytona ... contested a full season of FIA World Touring Car competition in 2007 with a career best result of sixth at Valencia, Spain ... son of well-known Mexican racer Michel Jourdain and nephew of 1989 Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year Bernard Jourdain ... began racing Formula Junior in Mexico at the age of 12 ... 32 years old from Mexico City ... resides in Mexico City with wife Nora, sons Michel and Marco and daughter Silvia.

ABOUT THE NO. 15 LOWE'S ACURA ARX

Powered by the 3.4-liter Acura LM-V8 engine

Chassis is the Acura ARX-01b, the latest version of the ARX-01a chassis which was developed by HPD (Honda Performance Development) through a technical partnership with Wirth Research in England

Tires are Michelin

LOWE'S FERNANDEZ RACING KEY PERSONNEL

Tom Anderson, co-owner/managing director ... founded Fernandez Racing with Fernandez in 2000)

Steve Miller, general manager ... eighth year with the team; reunited with Diaz, whom he worked with in 2000 in Indy Lights

Mike Sales, team manager ... as a chief mechanic, has had a decade-long relationship with Adrian Fernandez that includes victories in Champ Car, IndyCar Series and Grand-Am competition

John Ward, race engineer ... is in is ninth year as a race engineer for Adrian Fernandez; designer of many Eagle chassis for Dan Gurney's All American Racers, including the Eagle Mk III IMSA GTP car, which won the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1992 and 1993

Tony Leith, chief mechanic ... eighth season with the team; was a lead and chief mechanic in ALMS in the late '90s with Panoz Motorsports); won at Petit Le Mans in 1999 as chief mechanic with Panoz Motorsports

2008 PERFORMANCE CHART

* mechanical ** contact

ALMS SCHEDULE